The Jets provided their fans with possibly their best home effort of the season on Monday night, sparking a little bit of hope into a fan base that was losing it fast. Before their rematch against a Blackhawk team that dominated them Saturday, we take a look at the zone entries and evaluate Al Montoya’s performance from Monday.

Zone Entries

5 vs 5

Player

# of successful entries

Shots (From Entries)

Shots/Entry

Controlled Entries

Shots (Controlled Entries)

% With Control

Failed entries

2

Pardy

3

2

0.67

0

0

0%

0

7

Ellerby

1

0

0.00

0

0

0%

0

12

Jokinen

2

1

0.50

0

0

0%

0

14

Peluso

2

0

0.00

0

0

0%

0

15

Halischuk

2

1

0.50

1

0

50%

0

16

Ladd

8

4

0.50

4

3

50%

1

17

Wright

2

1

0.50

2

1

100%

2

18

Little

1

1

1.00

1

1

100%

0

22

Thorburn

2

2

1.00

0

0

0%

1

24

Clitsome

4

0

0.00

0

0

0%

1

26

Wheeler

5

3

0.60

3

2

60%

0

27

Tangradi

6

0

0.00

2

0

33%

1

33

Byfuglien

1

2

2.00

1

2

100%

1

39

Enstrom

3

2

0.67

0

0

0%

0

40

Setoguchi

5

4

0.80

2

3

40%

1

44

Bogosian

3

3

1.00

0

0

0%

0

55

Scheifele

7

3

0.43

7

3

100%

0

67

Frolik

4

4

1.00

3

4

75%

0

TEAM

61

33

0.54

26

19

43%

8

OPP

60

22

0.37

28

20

47%

11

OZF

16

5

0.31

DZF

7

2

0.29

Observations

When five on five, the teams were almost even in terms of entries, yet the Jets managed 11 more shot attempts. I credit this to two things. First, they had more controlled offensive zone time than the Wings did. Secondly, the Jets stopped trying to make the perfect play. Recently, the Jets (Devin Setoguchi especially) have been guilty of looking to make that extra pass or perfect play in order to score a goal. Their jump in not only shots, but scoring chances as well could potentially be attributed to them simply putting more pucks towards the net, rather than attempt the fancy play.

I was concerned when I first heard that Evander Kane was not going to be playing in this game, as he was really the only player on the team that has been a regular entry force. I was curious as to who would step up and fill that role, and the answer is pretty clear. Nobody in particular. Instead, the team as a whole stepped up and for what I believe is the first time this year every player had at least one entry.

The third line got a lot of props following this game, and it was very much warranted. I just want to take a second and focus on Michael Frolik. He has consistently been an extremely effective player when it comes to moving the puck into the opponent’s zone, and continued that on this night. Although I am not a huge fan of having Mark develop on the third line, I do think Frolik will be able to provide a positive influence into his all around game.

It comes as no surprise to me that Ladd led the team in entries. He had an absolutely fantastic night, and very clearly drove play down the ice on a regular basis.

It seems like Buff has had his leash loosened a little bit recently. Despite his skate issues on the night, he actually had a controlled entry on the night and has been doing so a little bit more over the past few games. I see this as a good thing, as I see him as a vital part of this team’s offense.

Montoya Performance

Al Montoya went out and did what he’s been doing all year long on this night. He was consistent, confident, and made the big saves when he needed to. Following a solid start, Pavelec has fallen off as of late, and just hasn’t been able to make the big save when the Jets need it. (In fact, he hasn’t really been able to do that too often throughout his career). Al Montoya was able to do just that Monday night as he shut the door whenever an opportunity arose for Detroit to really take control of the game. Add in his ability to move the puck and relieve pressure off of his defensemen, and I think it is safe to say we are finally starting to see a bit of a goalie controversy budding.

Goal

Situation

Why It Went In

Where It Went

1

Average Play (Controlled ZE)

Bad Break – Deflection

Glove Hand

2

Jets Power Play

Out Of Position

Glove Hand

Quick Explanations

There really isn’t much else that Montoya could have done on this goal. An unfortunate bounce off of Clitsome’s skate deflects right into the net on what was otherwise a harmless play.

This one I think is a little bit more on Montoya. Yes, the shot was an absolute cannon. Yet I think that he is slightly off center as he tracks the puck across, which leaves his glove side vulnerable to be exposed. This prevented him from bing able to reach the puck as it goes by, and results in a post-in goal.

Things to Watch For

The Jets have a rematch against the Blackhawks Wednesday night on TSN, a nationally broadcast game. Hopefully they can put together a much better performance against a team that utterly dominated them just a few days ago, and show the country that they can at least compete with the defending champs. Here are a few things to look for heading into the game:

Who will start in net? It should be Montoya. Claude kept mostly quiet following the game against Detroit, but with so many people calling for a Montoya start, and quite honestly him earning it to this point, it would be completely foolish to put Pavelec in.

Will Kane be healthy? If there is any chance of whatever this ailment is that’s restricting Kane affecting him long term, I wouldn’t put him in the lineup Wednesday night. If he is perfectly fine, great! I’d love to see him back, but he is way too valuable to this team to risk losing him long term.

Is the power play ever going to score? It blows my mind that there are teams worse than the Jets on the power play, but they seriously need to get this thing figured out. It’s just getting embarrassing. Teams have no fear of pushing the limits and taking a penalty against this team because they feel no threat of being scored on. They have to make teams pay for their mistakes.

Final Thought

That was the MTS Centre atmosphere we all know about. I was at the game Monday night, and it was probably the best crowd I have been a part of since the Jets came back. The Jets need to figure out how to maintain the crowd’s intensity, so they can have the same advantage they did during the 2011-12 season.

I write things, you read them. Then tend to yell at me for them. It's okay though, I'm from Winnipeg. I can take it. If you actually do like what I write, give me a twitter follow here (@thrubeniuk): https://twitter.com/thrubeniuk

Wow, the Miami Dolphin coaches are mentally ill. And the NFLPA is standing by "both players"?? If my coach tells me to stalk my fellow NHLer I punch him in the face. If I'm stalked by a fellow player I get him fired and break his cell-phone...
Thought both KC and Miami were playoff bound until the one Miami teammate, with coachin staff sanction, tweet he would "poop in the mouth" of another player. Now I'm putting a twoonie on TB...

Wings looked very sluggish; their passing was off. They don't like to dump it in but one turnover was by a blind pass to the Jet at centre ice...Quincey might be getting worse faster than the kids are getting better: which means they aren't in the SJ StL Chi top tier of Cup faves in my book. It would be nice to have Antropov now. The Jets have a variety of holes to fill to make the playoffs. They have no cap room. I suggest dumping some salary now. Giroux and L.Schenn can be had. Where is Bryzgalov? I need help with quantifying human capital gains of certain university courses.

I'd throw Olesz on the D point for PP. Hainsey looked alright on the PP, not a booming shot though. Buff and Enstrom great. Bogo and Stuart, okay. Trouba, might be worth the investment to play on PP. I don't think there are enough offensive FWs. What about that D that re-entered the draft? Pavelec for Brodeur straight up would be really good for the franchise. Brodeur a Jet. Brodeur has heart and good off season training regime. Not to mention controlled with his anger and focuses it on the correct target, not those around him. There is a sauna waiting for me someday.